Sphere 3D's New RDX+ Purpose-built Appliance Reduces Data Backup Windows by 30% and Data Center Footprint by 50%

Appliance with new AccuGuard software release expands on-line backup performance, 3 terabyte RDX media cartridges now available

November 12, 2015 1:12 PM EST | Source: Sphere 3D Corp.

San Jose, California--(Newsfile Corp. - November 12, 2015) - Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ: ANY), a "next cloud" containerization, virtualization and data management solutions provider, today announced that its Tandberg Data subsidiary is now shipping a new version of its RDX® QuikStation™. The subsidiary is now offering a new 4-bay version, upgrades to its AccuGuard software, and is equipping its RDX family of products with 3 terabytes (TB) of capacity. The software upgrades and increase in data transfer speeds can lead to up to 30% shorter backup times and a 50% smaller footprint for the data center/end user compared to the previous version.

RDX QuikStation is designed as a Purpose Built Backup Appliance to provide automated data protection, offsite disaster recovery and archiving for the high data growth environments. It is built on Sphere 3D's award-winning and patented RDX removable disk technology which recently achieved a new milestone, shipping over 1 Exabyte of storage capacity on more than 750,000 RDX systems, demonstrating its global reach.

"Expanding online data backup capacity without proportionately increasing the backup window or growing a datacenter footprint remains one of the top challenges for most IT administrators today," said Nilesh Patel, VP of Product Management and Marketing at Sphere 3D. "We believe that other Purpose Built Backup Appliances cannot deliver the same levels of integration and versatility as RDX QuikStation with AccuGuard™ backup software with deduplication, which automates disk-to-disk back up, reduces the storage and data center footprint, and reduces the backup window. With removable storage for off-site or off-the-rack retention capability, IT administrators can now have practically unlimited backup capacity without increasing DC infrastructure costs."

The new four drive-bay version of RDX QuikStation offers iSCSI connectivity for easy integration into existing physical and virtual infrastructures, and a smaller 1 unit 19-inch rack mount form factor compared to the already existing 8-bay version which requires a 2 unit space. The new RDX QuikStation overcomes single disk drive capacity limitations by spanning the data across all four drives. When a single RDX media volume is extended, it will continue to maintain all of the RDX benefits of removability and protection of customer data. For maximum performance and resiliency, the new RDX QuikStation provides two bonded Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports with load balancing and failover capabilities. Combined with high-capacity RDX removable media, the RDX QuikStation provides online storage with unlimited offline storage capacity. An onboard multi-language, web-based management console makes it easier for customers to remotely configure, control and securely manage the RDX QuikStation from a standard web browser. Automatic software updates and maintenance are also performed through an Internet connection.

Binary Testing Ltd., the UK's premier independent network testing lab, conducted rigorous testing on RDX. Director Dave Mitchell said, "The RDX QuickStation 4, using proven technology, is an affordable data backup and archiving solution for small businesses. In our lab tests, we found it very easy to manage and capable of delivering good performance while the robust removable RDX cartridges are perfect for essential off-site storage."

Capacity expansion with 3TB per disk drive cartridges and deduplication with AccuGuard

Sphere 3D's new 3 terabyte capacity RDX disk storage cartridges increase online backup capacity by up to 50% for the company's new and existing RDX QuikStation and QuikStor™ appliance customers, as well as existing customers with previous generation RDX QuikStor, RDX QuikStation, and Imation RDX Storage systems.

The AccuGuard data protection software, available with the RDX QuikStation, offers reliable automated backup and recovery. Its powerful data deduplication reduces effective data capacity by up to 20 times. AccuGuard optimizes the data at the source, resulting in drastically improved backup windows and network bandwidth. AccuGuard now offers support for SQL 2014 as well as the Windows 10 operating system.

Available now from Sphere 3D's authorized reseller partners, the QuikStation 4 list price starts at $1,999 MSRP.

About RDX

The patented RDX series with AccuGuard enterprise software provides encryption, deduplication, scalability, centralized management and reliability for backup, archive, data interchange and disaster recovery. RDX provides enterprise performance and fast access, with transfer rates of up to 936 GB per hour and capacities up to 3TB per cartridge, plus future expansion to larger capacity media enabled by Sphere 3D's breakthrough RDX+ technology.

About Sphere 3D

Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ: ANY) delivers containerization and virtualization technologies along with data management products that enable workload-optimized solutions. We achieve this through a combination of containerized applications, virtual desktops, virtual storage and physical hyper-converged platforms. Sphere 3D's value proposition is simple and direct—we allow organizations to deploy a combination of public, private or hybrid cloud strategies while backing them up with state of the art storage solutions. Sphere 3D, along with its wholly-owned subsidiaries Overland Storage and Tandberg Data, has a strong portfolio of brands including Glassware 2.0™, SnapCLOUD™, SnapScale®, SnapServer®, V3, RDX®, and NEO®. For more information, visit www.sphere3d.com.

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Media Contacts:
Eileen Elam
Sphere 3D
408-283-4734
media.relations@sphere3d.com

Nick Foot
BWW Communications
+44-1491-636393
Nick.foot@bwwcomms.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, unforeseen changes in the course of Sphere 3D's business or the business of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Overland Storage and Tandberg Data; any failure in the functionality of the RDX QuickStation, any increase in Sphere 3D's cash needs or our inability to obtain additional debt or equity financing; performance of our products; the level of success of our collaborations and business partnerships; possible actions by customers, partners, suppliers, competitors or regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in Sphere 3D's periodic reports contained in our Annual Information Form and other filings with Canadian securities regulators (www.sedar.com) and in prior periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Sphere 3D undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

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